Connecticut western news., 1887-07-06
MILES OF FLAME.
Trying to Subdue a Great Fire
 in the ComStock Mines.
Fierce Flames Thousands of Feet Under
 Ground

The Comstock lode at Virginia City. | New, is of itself one of the worlds won- dcrs. It is, moreover, wonderful as a spot in which the greatest marvels of mining have been performed. When ,thc great bonanza was being worked s4 900, 900 feet of timber were lowered Into tho deeps and set in place monthly for forty months. Well, that mass of timber has been on fire for two or three years past, and at last has become so terrible feature that it must be sub- dued or that portion of the great lode abandoned. Some time ago it was hoped that the fire might be arrested by bulk heads, and so solid walls of masonry were built sixteen feet in thickness to ward off the terrible fire. But the walls soon became hot and the fatal gas gen. cratcd by the fire found it's way out into the open chambers of the mine. Some thing else had to be done, and so it was determined to try to drown the fire with carbonic acid gas The trial is now under way, and Dan De Guile, in the Virginia City Enterprise, gives descrip- tion of it. It reads like the description of a battle be- tween mortals and gnomes. From the intensely interesting stat mont we con- dense some naked facts. A furnace for I the manufacture of tic gas is placed in position on the 1900 lever of the Ophir mine. The furnace is iron, like steam boiler, lined with brick, and the ma- terial used for the manufacture of tho gas is coke and charcoal. The furnace is fed at one end and the gas is dis charged through twelvc-inch pipe at the other. The account says: "The draft through the furnace is very strong, and when tn, door is open the flames within roar like blast furnace. Cast iron, or any ordinary metal would be melted in moment in the great heat. The furnace makes 40, 900 feet of carbon gas daily, aud it is estimated that fifty days will be required to subaue the fire, as it is believed that it fills 3, 900, 900 feet of the mine. The pipe is at a white heat when the gas leaves the furnace. This is carried down to tank or Hume, eighty feet in length, over which ten inches of water flows constantly and cools it. Then the pipo enters the main incline, still lying in the trough, and goes down seventy feet to the 1700 level. Tho water dashcs down through this trough and over and around tho pipe with tho noise of a small Niagara" On that level the pi pc enters the bulkhead, which at that point is twenty-iour feet in thickness. The pipe is stamped in with clay, which is kept constantly wet. The account says: IA tremendous draft inside the bulkhead sucks in the carbonic acid gas brought there through the pipe. When the bulkhead was cut through for the purpose of inserting the end of the pipe, all were astonished at the draft that was disclosed. It was so great that the workmen were obliged to be on their guard against being sucked in and carried into the regions of interior fire. {" Thismay appear to Dc an cxaggeration, but an anemometer placed in the current of air showed it to have velocity of 500 miles an hour. On the surface of the earth eighty miles an hour is thought to be,an awful gale, but here is q gale ol 500 miles. This brings into one's mind at once thoughts of the tremendous gaseous disturbances to which the surface of the sun is subject.
 Of course this draft was not long left open, the thrush of the atmospheric air, combining with the carbonic oxide ga. within, being liable to form an explosive compound. The pipe was in readiness, with its tower end closed, and it was d once thrust through the opening and tht work of filling in around it begun.
 i As the gas passes in behind the bulk. head it settles down into the loves part of the enclosed space, being heavier than the carbonic oxide gas within
 and also heavier than atmospheric air It will go down to the 1900 feet level There it will be stopped off and pre- vented sinking farther by water. Thu all the enclosed space in which are th smoldering timbers will be filled up witl carbonic acid gas, which will displac
 the carbonic oxide gas, just as wate poured into bottle displaces the air. When all the burning section has beer thus filled up the fact will be known b, calbonic acid gas flowing out througl
 the pipe on the 1900 level through whicl
 the gas from the fire is now escapin. into the old Consolidated Virginia shaft It may, be stated that after the en
 closed section shall have been filled t
 overfowing with the carbonic acid ga it will be allowed to so remain mont
 or two before any of the bulk-heads ar
 opened. The opening will be very eau
 tiously done, and only after carboni z acid gas has taken the place of the car
 bonic oxide gas at the escape pipe. Thi
 may be known by several tests. A yer simple.onc is to introduce the gas int
 lime water, when precipitatc will a
 once be formed of the contained lime.
 The rock in the mine will retain hea
 a long time, but this may be overcom
 by the use of water thrown on throug
 a hose, once the fire is out and the ga
 gonc-Salt Lake Tribune